


Flounce

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Het Relationship, Community: mcsheplets, Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 17:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17411063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: Rodney was going off-world with Keller on his day off, and John wasn't too happy about that.





	Flounce

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willidothefandango (nagth)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagth/gifts).



> Also meets: McSheplets 276: anxious

This hadn't gone the way John hoped when he arrived in Rodney's quarters to find him preening himself in a mirror, getting ready for an unscheduled off-world 'mission' with Keller. John knew Rodney had a weakness for blondes and Keller probably ticked most of Rodney's boxes, but he had hoped Rodney would figure out it wasn't any woman he was in love with but him. Admittedly John had been almost as oblivious until Teyla smacked him down with her bantos rods and asked if there was any reason he hadn't pursued a relationship with Rodney now the military rules against same sex relationships had been rescinded.

He had been so shocked at the time he had ended up on his back when she swept his feet out from under him.

Of course it could have been a successful psychological move on her part as Teyla could play dirty, seeing no honor in being defeated and having the life literally sucked out of her. Still, he limped away from that session with his mind whirling, and the more he thought about it the more he realized she was right about him and Rodney. They had spent almost five years on Atlantis and he could honestly say his relationship with Rodney was the weirdest and best part of it, right up there with flying Puddlejumpers and a spaceship city with his mind.

Rodney's incredibly blue eyes stared back at him, his expression surprisingly guilty.

John sighed. 

Jennifer Keller was a beautiful woman, and a brilliant doctor once she started to trust her own instincts in this crazy galaxy. He had already forgiven her for ignoring Ronon's story about his grandfather and almost losing Rodney to a brain parasite. It was lucky Jeannie had been swayed by Ronon's story, more open minded and desperate for a way to say goodbye to her brother even if that meant heading to a Wraith-infested world. John could already imagine Rodney and Jennifer's life together, having seen their attempts at friendship since falling into a hole together with Colonel Carter during an off-world mission. He knew from his experience thousands of years into the future that Rodney and Jennifer could get together and be happy, at least for a while. Yet he knew it couldn't last, with Rodney desperately trying to please her and eventually failing miserably until they became estranged and unhappy, because he had already seen her trying to turn Rodney into a better version of himself.

If John had wanted a different Rodney then he would have kept Rod and sent this Rodney back to the alternate universe.

John liked Rodney exactly the way he was, with his lack of social graces and his lack of a filter when rebuking others over their failings. He loved the sarcasm and snarling, and the way Rodney flailed when flustered. John knew he could spend a lifetime with Rodney and it would never get old, along with their debates over the merit of Superman versus Batman, or ridiculing science movies together. He couldn't imagine Atlantis without Rodney. He couldn't imagine being anywhere without Rodney, and though he was tempted to simply flounce right back out of the room without saying a word, hoping Rodney would eventually figure it out on his own, John gritted his teeth and approached him instead.

He hated talking about feelings. Teyla was convinced he had lost his mother at too young and age, able to psychoanalyze him better than most of the therapists he'd been forced to see over the years. Or maybe she had a better understanding from seeing the Wraith snatch away so many mothers and fathers from their children.

"Don't go," he stated softly.

Rodney bristled. "You don't think I'm good enough for Jennifer?"

John rubbed the back of his neck wondering how to answer that question because he had a lot of respect for Jennifer Keller.

"You're good enough but you can't make her happy, and I don't want to see you twist yourself into knots trying. It's not fair on either of you... or on me."

"You?"

John sighed in annoyance at Rodney's confusion, wishing he wasn't an emotional wreck where it came to feelings. He' had never been a 'words' kind of guy, and maybe he didn't have to be, he thought. Words were overrated and he needed Rodney to be completely sure of his intentions, so he stepped right into Rodney's personal space, giving him a moment to pull away before kissing him. Rodney didn't pull away. He froze for a moment, and then that big brain caught a clue and he was kissing John back.

Rodney never did make it off-world _with_ Jennifer, though they both ended up on the search party tracking her down after she went missing.

Years later John was still remembering the anniversary of their first kiss, glad he hadn't flounced away that day. 

END  
 


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